TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2001-09 > 0999392932


From: Bob Velke <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Step children
Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 21:11:56 -0400
References: <MPBBIHKABPIFJBGOECLHCEPNDEAA.guitarman@surfbest.net><4.2.0.58.20010901174915.0487be90@mail.hwrd1.md.home.com>
In-Reply-To: <3B917285.CA44E802@infoave.net>


Richard said:

>I don't think the flaw is allowing the user to have enough control.
>The flaw is that it is too easy to put the right tag on a
>relationship and have it treated as a biological relationship when
>it is not biological. Primary or not, a stepfather is not an
>ancestor. If someone wants to pretend otherwise, make them work to
>do it.

Dennis hasn't said how the parent came to be primary, whether he made it so
deliberately (but didn't know how to comment it) or even whether he wants
those people in the report. You seem to know the answers to those
questions but I don't so that's not what I responded to. I responded to
him about how to control it, whatever his objective might be. Then I
responded to this which you said:

>Since your report looks like any other Descendants Journal Narrative and
>contains
>non-biological relationships there is, IMO, a major flaw in TMG.

If merely having this result (regardless of the process Dennis might have
gone through) indicates to you that TMG has a major flaw, then it will
always have it because the alternative is to prevent users from doing what
many have said that they *want* to do. If users couldn't record a
step-father as a step-father but also make him primary then some would
record that step-father as a Father-Nat in order to get the results that
they want. As a researcher, I don't think that's better.

Whether the process to record a step-father "properly" (however you define
that) is too easy or too hard for individual researchers is not an issue
which we will resolve here. I responded to what seems like an opinion that
the the user's *ability* to generate a certain kind of report is a
flaw. (That plus the fact that you misrepresented my opinion and gave
Dennis inappropriate advice to solve his problem).

-Bob

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